


Of Parental Units

by Leni



Series: Enter The Fairy [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Rumbelle, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 15:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8672689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: In succeeding to upset the one, Baelfire had found the quickest way to anger the other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: severe

Baelfire knew he was in trouble when Belle turned to him with a severe expression on her face. In the months since he’d returned to the Enchanted Forest, Belle had been the one with the easy smiles and the subtle attempts to make him feel comfortable in their new life.

Where his father would have shadowed him every second of the day, always hopeful for a sign of Baelfire’s forgiveness, Belle let him deal with the changes in his own time, and often tugged at his father’s sleeve and gave him a little head shake as a sign that he was going overboard with his worries again.

Slowly, Baelfire had come to count on his father’s new wife to be on his side.

Too late he realized that, in his haste to prove that he wasn’t a child and that he didn’t care for his father’s opinion on the matter, he had left Belle to deal with all the anxiety his absence would have caused.

It was an effort not to bow his head in a sudden wave of contrition.

Belle had been a surprising addition in an already unexpected situation, but as the weeks had passed, Baelfire had come to appreciate her warmth and the way she didn’t press him to spend time with his father.

An appearance at meal times and polite responses kept her smiling, and she was quick to run interference when his father would have placed silly limits on the son who’d already survived the vilest of terrors. Belle’s wise handling of his father had kept Baelfire from putting much thought into his early plans to run away, and he’d already decided that he was grateful for her presence.

Belle was his ally in his battle for independence, and after so many yelling matches with his father and the sulky silences that followed, Baelfire hadn’t considered that anything he did would budge her from her supportive stance.

Staying overnight in the forest without warning seemed to have crossed a line Baelfire hadn’t even suspected was laid down.

Now it dawned on him that even the deepest well of affection had a limit, and from the steely look aimed at him, Baelfire had managed to hit rock bottom.

“Son,” his father spoke first, jumping to his feet and rushing to embrace him.

Baelfire’s instinct was to jump away, but since the option was to face Belle’s displeasure, he decided to accept his father’s show of affection. He had come ready to deal with his father’s anger, to shout back that he had no room to be disappointed after all Baelfire had gone through.

But it seemed that instead it was his father who was shielding him.

“Baelfire,” came Belle’s colder greeting. “I hope you have a good explanation for this.” She paused, expecting an answer. But Baelfire’s justifications were aimed to needle at his father, not appease his stepmother; he wisely kept them quiet. His silence prompted her to make an exasperated sound. “We looked for you. Outside. In the cold. For hours. How was your father supposed to guess that you weren’t dead in some ditch?”

Her voice rose until at the end her nostrils were flaring, and furious tears sprung to her eyes.

To his mortification, Baelfire felt a guilty flush travel up his cheeks.

He had wanted to hurt his father, not Belle.

It seemed that in succeeding to upset the one, he had found the quickest way to anger the other as well.

“Sweetheart?”

For a moment, it looked as if Belle would round up on her husband and start railing at him too. But instead she took a deep breath, eyes narrowed to signal her displeasure, and wiped her cheeks with the handkerchief his father was handing her. “Fine,” she told him mulishly, sitting back down. “He’s your son. You deal with him.”

Each sentence was more a challenge than capitulation, and even to Baelfire it was clear that his father and Belle had already decided how to handle the situation and that Belle expected a certain outcome.

His father nodded placatingly. Then he took Baelfire’s arm and tugged him back toward the front door. “You stay here, dear,” he told Belle, not bothering to push Baelfire when it became obvious that he was more than willing to go outside where his steaming stepmother wouldn’t be glaring at him.

“She is scary,” Baelfire managed when they were safely out of earshot.

His father raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t I warn you?”

Baelfire had thought it was an exaggeration, and said as much.

“Oh hoh, no!” His father chuckled, apparently comfortable with a bride who made Pan’s anger seem like a mildly uncomfortable breeze compared to the storm Baelfire had sensed brewing in her. “The good news is, it’s not hopeless. Wait a couple of hours for good measure, but then apologize and promise not to do it again. She’ll forgive you, son.”

“And the bad news?”

His father pursed his lips in remembered distress. “You better keep that promise, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

 

The End  
27/11/16


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